


Touch of Madness

by Not_so_fluffy



Series: Gathering [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Death, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, OC is main character, OC is reincarnated, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Red Room (Marvel), Reincarnation, Slow To Update, Team as Family, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 02:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13157163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_so_fluffy/pseuds/Not_so_fluffy
Summary: Am I crazy? Am I mad? Who knows, but as Aristoteles once stated 'There is no genius without having a touch of madness'. And I always liked to think that I have an exceptionally bright mind. Normalcy is overrated anyway.





	Touch of Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I welcome any brave soul that decided to read this fanfiction.  
> First, let's get the disclaimer out of the way.  
> *I don't own the Avengers, Marvel universe or any of characters that appear in this fanfiction - only my OC(s)*
> 
> Now with this done, the first chapter (or more like a prologue) is so short that I am embarrassed. Also I probably need beta because my grammar is sooo shitty. Ehm.  
> And I don't like this chapter much but I can't write good first chapters to save my life, so yea, sorry.

Languages spoken:

German:  _“Hello”_  
Russian:  “Hello”  
Thoughts: _‘Hello’_

 

* * *

He could hear faint footsteps nearing his office. Pausing in the middle of reading his second report of the day, his eyes flickered towards the office’s doors. Wolfgang von Strucker pushed aside the now unimportant papers as he waited for the footsteps to stop.

A knock reverberated through the room.

_“Enter.”_

Immediately, the door opened and woman in white lab coat entered his office. Her blond hair put into low ponytail, only few strands left to frame her blank face. Paula Basler stopped in front of his table, her back straight and black eyes cold as she looked ahead, waiting for permission to speak.

He leaned back in his seat, his gaze traveling to the folder held in the woman’s hands. There was a reason for why he demanded a file to be delivered to him directly. This experiment was his personal project and those few people who worked on it were carefully selected. He didn't need others to stick their noses into his business

 “ _Report.”_

_"The Ectoplasm extraction and following insertion was successful. Both, the woman and the child, survived the process and don’t exhibit any irregularities as of now. They will need to be put under careful observations from now on, however.”_

He nodded and accepted the folder, opening it to shortly skim the contents. His mouth twitched, but he suppressed the urge to smile. He had an image to uphold.

_“Excellent. You will continue being in charge of this project. Any changes in the state of both shall be written in your monthly report which you will hand over directly to me."_

There was a slight hesitation in her posture now," _I am very honored that you chose me to lead this project, however there is still a lot of work to do and I also have other experiments to attend...”_

_“I will assign one assistant for you, but that’s the most I can do. I don’t want certain people to know about it; not until I am sure it is completely successful at least.”_

_“I understand. Thank you, Herr Strucker.”_

_“That’s all. You are dismissed.”_

After the departure of his underling, he tapped his chin thoughtfully and turned around with his chair, facing the notice-board on the wall.

These past few months were quite eventful.

Few months ago, he was finally appointed as the leader of the European faction - to nobody’s surprise. Even when he was still in the academy, his heritage and devotion to HYDRA’s cause made him pre-selected to become a head. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he will become one of the biggest HYDRA’S assets in time. And while it took some time and a lot of work, he was finally where he rightfully belonged.  

However, being in such high position left him with less free time for his personal project than he would have desired. He had to post-phone some, or rush others to completion. He also had less time for his artifacts hunts, which was very unfortunate. He was rather fond of those.

And of course there was also his ongoing infiltration mission in Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. He had to keep a stable spot there, while managing to stay unnoticed by most. 

With all these responsibilities, he had a lot on his shoulders already and it was certainly an unwise idea of him to start a new project, especially the one that will take years to bear any fruition, but...

Werner was a big disappointment, a mistake which he was ashamed to have to call a son. The brat was pathetic, weak and without any ambition. He tried to toughen the boy up every time he made an appearance at their estate but it proven too little, too late. When he first met him as a father, the boy was already three years old. Strucker refused to spend any time with self-insufficient toddlers as his time was invaluable and better spent on more important things. He paid several maids and nannies to take care of the boy until he was of acceptable age, but then what he got was a spoiled wimpy little child that cried every time he even approached him. Worthless.

This time, he will make sure to properly cultivate his future child. It would have been very unfortunate if this experiment went to waste after all.

* * *

  _“It should be clear by now. What is it, doctor?”_

There was a moment of prolonged silence.

_“A girl.”_

That... was more than a little disappointing. He was reminded of the humiliation he had to endure from that annoying Teacher's Pet when he was at the academy.

He sneered.

_‘It seems I will have to call in a favor from Madame B.’_

* * *

_“How is the child?”_ he asked, looking up from the forms he was filling seconds ago. The doctor looked fairly uncomfortable to be in his superior's office, their previous meetings usually being in various lab environments. On the other hand, Paula looked as unbothered and cold as always. 

 _“The birth was... complicated to say the least. We had to perform a Caesarean section to be sure that the baby will be without any long-lasting defects,”_ he paused and his eyes flicked towards Strucker's face, determining if he was allowed to continue.

_“Are there any?”_

_“No. Not as far as we can tell. The following tests confirmed that the baby is perfectly healthy and without any defectives.”_

Strucker nodded and outstretched his hand, the doctor fumbled slightly to hand over the folder in his hands. With a flick of hand, the doctor was dismissed, which he gratefully accepted and scrambled quickly out of office.

_“Paula?”_

_“I performed several other tests to determine if the experiment was successful. T_ _he ectoplasm was fully absorbed by the child, but at the moment we can’t say to what extent the body and mind was affected. Zola’s notes are incomplete; therefore the only way for us to know for sure if the transfer was successful is to ask the girl once she is capable of speech.”_

 _“I see.”_ This was expected, the subject matter of spiritual energy was still a big unknown in this age.

 _“Herr Strucker... what shall we do with her?”_ she tapped the photograph that was pinned to the first page of her own folder. The child-bearer.

He frowned. The woman was liability at this point. She was chosen for her predisposition as spiritual medium and possessing slight psychic abilities. There were several ways he could utilize such talents, but he wasn't in any hurry to start new projects at this point of time. And it wasn't in his nature to leave loose ends... 

_“Kill her.”_

* * *

“So that the child? Such ugly little thing,” a frown followed, “She is also way too young. What I am supposed to do with a newborn, Strucker? My facility is no day nursery. I agreed to take the girl in and train her, but my instructors are no nurse maids.”

“You get clearance for several important HYDRA’s project in exchange for this exception. It wasn't easy for me to get you those passes. Don’t you think this trade is worthy of those few adjustments you will have to make to take her in?”

“For taking in a random girl and train her, only for you to sweep in a few years later and take her away, effectively making all resources we used on her worthless? For that, I suppose the trade is fair in the end. But now you expect me to take in _your child_ and bring her up from the start, all because you are incapable of taking care of anyone but yourself? Are you aware how much care a child requires? She will also need diapers, special diet, clothes and furniture-“

“Of course, I am prepared to pay for any appurtenance needed.”

A glare, „Don’t ever interrupt me again. Naturally you will pay for all of those, but you can’t pay back a time consumed. I will need to assign a personal tutor for her; she will have to be taught everything from the start. Do you know how much time that will take?”

“Her brain exhibits a high level of activity; it will not take her long to learn anything.”

“You don’t know that for sure. What you are offering at the moment is not enough for all these troubles.”

Silence reigned in the room.

“What do you want, then?”

“Clearance for Winter Soldier Program or alternatively I want to borrow once a year the only successful experiment, it would be a very educational experience for my girls to meet the real person behind the ghost story.”

“That’s... you know full well how high the security for that project is. Even I am not privy to all details. And as of now that program is pretty much dead with only one subject in active use and others in Cryostasis Chambers for unforeseeable future.”

“Then there will be no problem to get me on it, will there?”

A sigh was released, followed by another long stretch of silence as the occupants of the room continued to size each other up.

“I will try to get you a pass, but I can’t promise anything right now. Anything else you want to know before we part?”

“Fair. I think I know everything I need for now, except... Does she have a name?”

“No. Chose one if you want. I don’t care. I will make her identity papers before I collect her.”

“I see... that’s all then.”

“Good... And Madame B.? Try not to break her. She is valuable specimen.”

A chuckle, “I am not making any promises.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya~ now, if you stayed until the end - thank you very much.
> 
> This ff is actually just some random thing that happened when I was stressed over school and I only wrote it because I was unmotivated to continue with my other fics which are on ff.net, thus, I am not really sure where I am going with this - sure I have plot-line in mind, but only to a certain point. So yeah, I guess I will be jsut surprised as you at how this will end.
> 
> I have a problem with grammar - I *do* have beta but I am sort of keeping this secret from her, because she will be angry if I started another fic when I have other works that I didn't update in months. Haha.. so yeah.


End file.
